Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Don't Bring Those Weak Analogies Into Channing's House

It has been tough to get a read on the practice facility vibe post-Game 1. It hasn't been uptight, but probably not as loose as it was during the regular season.

Can't quite put my finger on it, but something is different. Maybe it's because more media are on hand. Maybe it's because everyone from the coaches to the players to the Portland media are used to being at home in mid-April. Maybe it's the being inside of a windowless gym when the weather outside is gorgeous. Whatever it is, it's a bit askew.

But today, Channing Frye lightened the mood up a bit, as he often does. While taking questions after shootaround, one reporter tried to draw a correlation between the way a child reacts after being spanked to the way the Trail Blazers are reacting after being figuratively spanked by the Rockets on Saturday. Not a bad analogy, I thought.

Channing, on the other hand, was having none of it.

"That’s probably a terrible analogy for what went on," said Frye lightheartedly. "I think they just came out here and executed. (Houston) knew what it took to come out here and win. And they did what they had to do, so basically they were just mentally tougher in that game. For us, we just didn’t play well. I think we just didn’t get in a groove early. And mentally we just didn’t get back into it. So we’re a lot more focused now."

Channing, maybe sensing the reporter was a bit stung by the critique, finished off his answer with a pat on the shoulder and some words of reassurance.

"That was a good try on your analogy," said Frye. "It was a good one. It was close."